OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation Welcomes i14y Lab as an Independent Test Lab Partner

As a leading European open lab, the i14y Lab was selected because it covers the requirements and expectations of European mobile network operators. For the OCUDU Open Source RAN stack, the i14y Lab is also looking at the possibility of extending testing beyond the scope of O-RAN TIFG requirements, placing particular emphasis on more advanced, operator-driven criteria.

“We are happy to be part of this because we believe open source is key to accelerating development cycles and better integrating research for more and faster innovation,” says i14y Lab consortium lead Andreas Gladisch.

Through the collaboration with the OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation’s OCUDU technical project, the i14y Lab continues its successful work with SRS, who were recently awarded the O-RAN TIFG E2E badge for srsRAN Enterprise 5G by the i14y Lab. DeepSig and SRS were selected in September 2025 by the National Spectrum Consortium (NSC) to build OCUDU.

The initial focus of OCUDU RAN stack testing at i14y will be on the O-RAN TIFG requirements [O-RAN.TIFG.TS.E2E-Test.0-R004-v07.00, March 2025] and on automation, because the evaluation will also include continuous testing during the development of the OCUDU RAN stack.

But the i14y Lab and OCUDU technical project are also looking to extend the automated testing beyond this to include other important aspects. The Telecom Infra Project (TIP) Open RAN Macro Test Plan [Telecom Infra Project, OpenRAN Macro Centralized CU Test Plan, Draft V2.0, December 2024] offers a broader and more operationally focused framework. It explicitly addresses operational and resiliency aspects, enabling a more comprehensive assessment of the OCUDU RAN stack’s readiness for real-world, large-scale network deployment.

Depending on resources, the following topics and test cases may be integrated into the automated tests:

• Energy Efficiency: looking to adapt the TIP test plans such as RFT-037, RFT-038, or RFT-027. They are aimed at validating the energy efficiency of an RU at different loads and various MIMO operation scenarios, The aim would be to adapt them to do the same for the DU and CU. Efforts have already begun in this direction in collaboration with Rimedo Labs.
• Operations: envisioning to integrate test plans like OP-049 (power cycle O-DU node), OP-050 (power cycle O-CU node), and OP-051 (MH link loss—remove and replace MH fiber) into the OCUDU test plan.
• Other tests: covering RFT-009 (admission control based on the number of UEs—negative case) and RES-090 (Radio Link Failure).

For the OCUDU technical project, receiving a third-party evaluation is key to establishing an independent and unbiased framework for assessing OCUDU RAN stack deliverables. Furthermore, a key objective is to evaluate the OCUDU RAN stack under realistic operational conditions, particularly those highlighted by European MNOs they consulted during the planning and solicitation phase for the third-party evaluation strategy. This specifically supplements the evaluations to be done by the US partners that are based on the North American ATIS-MVP  and the additional features specified by the FutureG Office within the United States Office of the Under Secretary of War, Research and Engineering (US OUSW(R&E)).

To cover this wide area of testing, DeepSig and SRS have selected

• VALOR, 
• the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific (NIWC Pacific),
• Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) OTIC lab,
• the Platform for Open Wireless Data-driven Experimental Research (POWDER),
• Cloud Enhanced Open Software Defined Mobile Wireless Testbed for City-Scale Deployment (COSMOS), 
• and the i14y Lab

with a few more under consideration.